Chapter 67: Orders of the Warstar: A New Campaign

Stepping out of Mu Qingxue’s captain’s quarters, Lin Yu felt like he was floating the whole way.

Those words kept replaying in his mind.

Warstar…

My very own Warstar…

Back in the old days, people said that massive ships and heavy artillery were a man’s true passion.

These days, with the interstellar era in full swing, that old dream is alive and well—but now the ultimate symbol is the interstellar warship. Among all warships, one type stands above the rest and sends every man’s heart racing.

Nothing else compares—it’s the most powerful starship humanity has ever built, the Warstar!

A single Warstar’s firepower equals an entire detachment.

That’s not even an exaggeration.

Just look at the Qiongxiao’s massive railgun battery—over a thousand heavy turrets.

You’d have to see it to believe it; it’s enough to scare anyone out of their wits.

If the problem of mass-producing the zero-point module ever got solved, then with a giant like the Warstar…

Deck it out with energy weapons, and it could take on a fully manned Klein battle column all by itself—not even joking.

Once back aboard the Zhulong, Lin Yu made his way to Andrei’s cabin.

Even though Andrei had only recently been promoted from warrant officer, he was still an officer on the Zhulong, which meant he got his own private quarters.

Granted, compared to Lin Yu’s ten square meters on the Qiongxiao, Andrei’s room on the Zhulong was only six square meters.

Can’t be helped—the Zhulong is so much smaller than the Qiongxiao.

It’s not even a third as long.

And in terms of internal volume, it probably barely measures up to a tenth.

Since they’d just wrapped up their operation, the whole Special Mixed Fleet was given a short break.

Like before, everyone’s split into three groups for staggered rest—each group gets three days off, for a total of nine days.

Andrei had mentioned wanting to visit the orphanage where Lin Yu grew up and maybe help out as a volunteer.

So once Lin Yu wrapped up his talk with Mu Qingxue, he came looking for Andrei so they could head down to Mars together.

But then…

Just as Lin Yu was about to press the doorbell—his hand hadn’t even reached the panel—

the door slid open by itself.

When Lin Yu saw who was standing inside, he froze in surprise.

“Serena?”

“Lin Yu, coming to see Andrei?”

“That’s right. Hey, Serena, your face is bright red. Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine. Since you’re here for Andrei, I’ll get out of your way!”

With that, Serena hurried off like she had somewhere urgent to be.

Lin Yu could only shake his head in confusion before stepping inside.

And then—

“Hold up, Andrei, what’s that smell in your room?”

——

“So, you and Serena… it’s official now?”

“Yep!”

“Alright, so what about your parents? Did you tell them yet?”

“Sure did!”

“How’d they take it?”

“They were fine with it, but they made me sign a military order—I have to get Serena pregnant within three years!”

“Wait, what? They turned that into a military order?”

Lin Yu was speechless.

He knew Andrei came from a military family—both parents were active officers in the Federation Fleet.

Still,

he never expected them to treat family matters with military formalities.

“Well, you’d better do your best then!”

“That’s why as soon as we got back, Serena and I have been hard at work on that! That kind of fun is beyond a single guy’s grasp.”

Hearing that, Lin Yu felt like slapping himself.

He tried to wish Andrei luck, only to get a face full of gloating instead.

Honestly, Serena can be a little fiery, but her looks are easily a solid nine out of ten.

And talk about her figure…

Lin Yu had never seen anyone, anywhere, quite like her.

That lucky bastard really scored big time.

They chatted as they made their way to the shuttle.

But before they could even take a seat, Lin Yu’s smart computer buzzed against his left wrist.

Huh?

He checked it. Turned out it was a call from Mu Qingxue.

She was his direct superior, so Lin Yu picked up right away.

“Lin Yu, report back to the fleet immediately—we’ve got a situation!”

“Yes, Commander!”

No need to ask why. Lin Yu responded instantly.

He hung up, then pulled Andrei away from the shuttle.

——

Half an hour later.

Lin Yu stood aboard the Qiongxiao again. By now, all the senior officers of the Fifth Fleet had assembled—just waiting for him.

“This is the battle that happened three hours ago in Sector B9. Everyone, take a look.”

A moment later, a virtual display popped up in front of each person.

It was full of data and video footage.

The video was especially brutal.

Somewhere in the Asteroid Belt, inside the Federation’s control zone.

Over a hundred asteroid tug ships had been reduced to floating wreckage.

Countless Federation soldiers—cold and lifeless—drifted through the area.

And it wasn’t just the tug ships; the escorting Second Fleet’s Fourth Detachment had taken a beating too.

Out of thirty warships, only seven survived. Even those were in pretty dire shape.

The flagship, a heavy cruiser, had been boarded by Klein soldiers and turned into a slaughterhouse.

The remaining six ships hadn’t been boarded, but they were all badly damaged.

If not for the emergency rescue from nearby fleets, even those six would likely have been destroyed.

Total losses: 23 warships, flagship massacred from the inside, and massive structural damage.

Add in the loss of the mining fleet, and casualty numbers in the Federation Fleet hit 160,000.

“Lin Yu, recognize anything?”

“Yes, this is the fleet I tangled with for two days in the Asteroid Belt.”

Lin Yu nodded.

He’d fought Shivana before. He knew just how tough she was.

Honestly…

There aren’t many commanders in the Federation Fleet who can go toe-to-toe with her.

Especially when you don’t have the numbers or long-range firepower advantage.

And in the Asteroid Belt, Federation ships just can’t match the Klein’s warships in a stand-up fight.

“That fleet’s still operating in our territory. If any mining fleet runs into them, it’ll be a disaster. That’s why Headquarters has ordered all mining ops suspended and for everyone to pull out of the Asteroid Belt at once.”

“Every fleet will contribute ships to the hunt, and the Fifth Fleet—that’s you, Lin Yu—will lead the charge!”

“Forget about waiting for new ships. As soon as you get back, send me the list of fifteen warships you need to fill out your roster. We’ll borrow from other fleets to get you what you need for this mission.”

“We don’t have time for crew integration exercises or any extra prep. You’ll have to handle that yourself.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow. Any questions?”

Based on Lin Yu’s earlier reports and the recent attack on the Second Fleet, Mu Qingxue knew this was a serious adversary.

Maybe even on par with herself.

With that kind of threat, she didn’t trust any of the other sub-fleets with the job—only Lin Yu could pull it off.

So, she temporarily reassigned ships from the other three sub-fleets to fill out Lin Yu’s unit.

Last time, his force of fifteen ships had held the enemy at bay for two days, taking one down and crippling over ten more.

Now, with thirty ships, Mu Qingxue firmly believed Lin Yu could—

not just match them, but break them.

“No problem!”

“Good. Go get ready.”

“Roger, Commander!”